


(Un)pleasant birthday surprises

by StrangeNoise



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Birthday, Blow Jobs, Coming Untouched, Drunk Sex, Evil masterplans, First Time Blow Jobs, Getting Together, Hurt, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post Derry, Pranks, Pre-Relationship, Some angst, Somewhat, lots of gay panic, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23053138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeNoise/pseuds/StrangeNoise
Summary: When Richie invites his friends for a weekend of getting drunk and having fun to celebrate his 41st birthday, everything seems to be going great at first. But then Richie wakes up naked next to Eddie and neither of them rememberes what happened the night before or how to deal with anyy of it
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Comments: 1
Kudos: 109





	(Un)pleasant birthday surprises

Inviting his friends for a weekend together for his birthday had seemed like an amazing idea to Richie at the time. His 41st birthday was on a Saturday and since his friends lived all over the country, it only made sense to invite them to stay from Friday around noon until Sunday night. After the entire Derry fiasco, they had only managed to get together once on New year’s Eve and they were all desperate to change that. Especially Beverly and Eddie, who were both in the middle of pretty nasty divorces welcomed the chance to get away from it all even if just for one weekend. Richie himself couldn’t wait to see them all again. The only “outsider” allowed on this weekend was Stan’s wife Patty, who Richie wasn’t even sure counted as an outsider anymore after she had been dubbed an honorary member of the Losers Club on New year’s Eve. 

All in all, the weekend was guaranteed to be a blast. On Friday night they ordered pizza and spent the evening eating, chatting and getting drunk. Or more accurately: Bev, Richie, Stan, and Eddie got wasted while the rest of the group stayed close to sober to make sure they didn’t get into more trouble than was strictly necessary. If they were honest, that had been much of their whole group dynamic when they were teens anyway and it was comforting that even now that they were adults not much had changed. Richie was beyond happy to have his friends back in his life and that he was getting to spend an entire weekend with them. He would have a good time bickering with Eddie and arguing with Stan and making ludicrous plans to take over Hollywood with Bev and Bill. Life was perfect as far as Richie Tozier was concerned.

So when he woke up the next morning and wasn’t alone in his bed, it was a pretty rude awakening. Richie didn’t even need to put on his glasses to be able to tell it was Eddie’s body curled up in the sheets next to him. And yet, he frantically searched for his glasses, hoping against hope that once he could get a clear view, he would find that he had been mistaken. Maybe he had invited someone the night before and spent the night with them. It was as far-fetched as theories got but Richie was desperate. The alternative being he had finally seduced the guy he had been into for years but would now have to shrug it off as a one-time event because there was no way Eddie returned his feelings was too painful to even consider.

By the time he had finally found his glasses and managed to put them on, Eddie stirred next to him. Apparently, Richie’s frantic rustling of the sheets in search of his glasses had woken him. The smaller man rubbed at his eyes and eventually managed to pry them open. The moment his gaze landed on Richie his eyes grew wide as saucers and his jaw dropped almost comically. He blinked several times, panic slowly overtaking his features.

“W-what?”, Eddie began, obviously not sure what he even wanted to ask. Richie could see movement beneath the sheets and was sure Eddie just discovered that he was just as naked as Richie was. Bile rose in Richie’s throat and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just from getting hideously drunk the night before. 

“Yeah…I guess this happened”, he croaked out dumbly. Richie had no idea what he was even supposed to say. Sure, having sex with Eddie had been a dream of his for longer than he cared to think about but in his fantasies, it had been far more romantic with way less alcohol involved and a lot more pleasant memories instead of cold fear clouding his brain. Richie had wanted it to happen but never like this. He couldn’t remember one bit of what had happened the night before. He had no idea how they had gotten to the point of falling into bed together, who had initiated it or literally anything else. From the look of utter confusion on his face, Richie concluded that Eddie didn’t remember anything either.

“Fuck”, Eddie muttered, his voice tight as he sat up, “I better get back to the guestroom before the others see me and ask questions.”

Richie nodded. It was the sensible thing to do. But at the same time, it cemented the fact that this had been nothing but a mistake and a slip-up. Eddie didn’t consider this an unplanned yet lucky event that would lead them to finally confess their feelings for each other and start dating as they had always dreamed of doing. Then again, Richie had to admit he still had no idea if Eddie even had any feelings for him so this train of thought was just him blindly projecting onto his best friend and that probably wasn’t healthy either. 

He watched as Eddie hurriedly threw his clothes back on and then rushed out of the room with a tight, apologetic smile. The moment he was gone, Richie jumped out of his bed and raced to the en-suite bathroom to throw up. Clinging to the toilet bowl, he scolded himself. He shouldn’t have gotten drunk like this. From Eddie’s reaction, it was obvious that there was no way Eddie had initiated anything in this. The best-case scenario was that he had drunkenly tried to seduce Eddie and the other man had gone along with it for fun or because he missed sex now that he was getting divorced or some other reason that involved Eddie not having feelings for Richie but agreeing to sex with him for whatever reason. 

Richie wasn’t sure if he wanted to scream or cry or pray for the ground to swallow him whole. Everything seemed like a better alternative than having to spend another two days with the guy he had been in love with for ages but who didn’t seem to reciprocate those feelings. And who Richie might have talked into having sex with him. God, this entire situation was beyond fucked up.

Not sure what to do, Richie stayed on the ground in front of the toilet for several more minutes trying to come up with some sort of plan. Then he got up, brushed his teeth and took a shower so maybe he would feel a little more human again. But there ended his plan and Richie sat down on the edge of his bed until he heard Beverly’s voice down the hall and soon after the sound of her coming closer. The moment she was outside of his bedroom, Richie opened the door, probably looking like a man possessed. 

„Bev!“, he hissed before grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind them, “I need your help!”

“What happened?”, Bev asked, concern in her voice. Richie figured it was probably warranted. He had to look like he had gone completely mad. 

“I…Eddie and I…”, he began, wringing his hands before throwing himself down on the bed and burying his face in his hands, “Eddie and I had sex.” 

“Oh”, was all Bev said for a moment. Richie felt the bed dip next to him when she sat down and began to run one hand through his hair soothingly. 

“I’m the world’s biggest idiot”, Richie whined into his hands, “I know how I get around him and I know how I get when I’m drunk! Why the fuck did I think it was a good idea to get hammered?! Something like this was bound to happen one of these days! God, I hate myself, Bev!”

“Didn’t you guys talk about any of it?”, Beverly wanted to know, still indulgently combing her fingers through Richie’s hair in a way she knew would calm him down.

“Not really”, Richie admitted, feeling his face grow hot underneath his hands at the memory, “We kind of just woke up, panicked and then Eddie left.”

Bev hummed and said nothing for a while. After a few beats of silence, Richie finally dared to take his hands off his face and look up at his friend. The worried expression on her face made his heart drop to the pit of his stomach all over again. Bev was supposed to be the optimistic one here. She was supposed to tell him how to fix this. That’s why he had ambushed her in the hallway in the first place. If even Bev was looking this concerned over what had happened there was no way in hell he could fix what he had ruined between him and Eddie. 

“Fuuuuuuck”, Richie whined and turned onto his stomach again to hide his face in the bedsheet. It still smelled of Eddie’s cologne and his heart tightened in his chest. “Why am I such an idiot, Bev?! I just ruined everything!”

“Hey, no trash-talking my friends”, Beverly insisted and patted Richie on the back, “It’s you and Eddie we’re talking about. I’m sure there’s nothing that could break you apart for long. You’ve been through so much together already.”

“Yeah, but none of it involved sticking our dicks into the other while drunk”, Richie argued, words muffled by the fabric surrounding his face, “This isn’t some childish mistake, Bev. This is a fuck-up of epic proportions.”

“Boy, you sure are dramatic today”, Bev commented. Richie would have been upset if her tone didn’t sound at least a little more confident than before. Maybe she had a plan to help him after all. 

“I know you’re not going to like it but the only way I see you guys fixing this thing is if you talk about it”, Bev eventually said. Richie had expected that suggestion. It made sense after all. That didn’t mean he liked it, though.

“What am I even supposed to say?!”, Richie whined, “’ Sorry I put my dick in you it’s just that I’ve been crushing on you for ages and I get even stupider when drunk no hard feelings though’?!”

At this point, Richie was so invested in his own drama that for several moments he didn’t even realize he had admitted to his crush on Eddie for the first time. Granted, Bev was far smarter and more intuitive than anyone else in their group and keeping secrets from her was downright impossible. Richie was almost sure she had guessed what was up with him ages ago. But now it was out in the open either way and all Bev did was sigh like a mother would when her child was being especially difficult.

“I’m sure you can find a more adult way to phrase that”, she said and of course she was right. It was just that it would involve making himself vulnerable and if there was one thing Richie hated it was that. 

“I know, I know”, he whined, “God, why do you always have to be right?!” Richie finally turned onto his back to look up at Beverly with a pout. She smiled mildly and patted him on the cheek.

“That’s what I’m here for”, she stated with a smug grin and rose to her feet, “I’m going to help Mike and Ben make breakfast. I suggest you talk to Eddie before everyone else wakes up.”

“Yes ma’am”, Richie sighed and saluted Bev before she left the room, leaving the door ajar. 

For the next half hour, Richie hoped Eddie would just stay in the guest room for the rest of the day and they would never have to talk about anything that had happened the night before. But the universe or whoever was in charge didn’t grant Richie his wish and soon enough Eddie walked past the open bedroom door and towards the kitchen.

“Hey, Spaghetti!”, Richie heard himself call out before he could stop himself and sure enough, Eddie appeared in the doorway again. His eyebrows narrowed and Richie realized that he must still look like a massive mess with his hastily thrown together ensemble of a bright Hawaiian shirt, a dark t-shirt and jeans and socks that were as colorful as the Hawaiian shirt but with a wildly different pattern. The way he was sitting at the edge of his bed, legs bouncing up and down with nervous energy probably didn’t help his cause either. 

“Yeah?”, Eddie asked, uncertainty thick in his voice.

“Could you close the door?”, Richie said, “I think we need to talk and I’d rather not have the others hear it.” Eddie nodded and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

Now that they were alone Richie’s heart started hammering in his chest again. He had no idea what he wanted to say or how to even approach the topic and Eddie didn’t look like he had any ideas on how to handle the situation either. Eddie didn’t even come closer. He just hovered by the door, looking uncertain and a little scared. 

“About last night”, Richie began eventually and Eddie nodded before he could get any further, “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I can’t really remember what happened because I got so drunk and I hope I didn’t do anything you didn’t like.”

“I don't remember anything either”, Eddie admitted with a shrug, “So I don’t know if I liked or disliked…what we apparently did. But I’m guessing since I’m not in any pain it was at least okay.” 

Richie couldn’t help the snort that escaped him at that. He had always hoped that if he ever got to do this with Eddie the verdict would be something more positive than ‘at least okay’ but he figured beggars couldn’t be choosers. And since neither of them remembered anything it was probably the best he was going to get. The knowledge that he apparently hadn’t hurt Eddie in any way calmed him more than he would like to admit. At least the first part of this talk was evolving somewhat positively. 

“So…what do we do now?”, Richie asked, feeling like someone had just poured several ounces of lead into him. Eddie looked unsure and nervous, avoiding Richie’s gaze whenever he could. 

“I don’t know”, Eddie admitted, “I mean…it was obviously an accident and we were both pretty drunk so I guess neither of us can be blamed. But what we do from here on out? No idea.”

“Do you think we can still be friends?”, Richie wanted to know. It was his safest bet and at the same time the most vulnerable he had probably ever been around Eddie. If he had gotten even the smallest hint from the smaller male that he would be happy to do this again or even try dating, Richie would have jumped at it immediately. But as it seemed, Eddie was confused and scared and the least Richie could do was make it obvious he would like to still be Eddie’s friend if he couldn’t be his boyfriend and hope that Eddie would agree to it. 

“Of course”, Eddie replied almost immediately and Richie was suddenly so relieved that he wouldn’t have seen the glint of sadness in Eddie’s eyes even if he had been looking for it. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could finally breathe freely again.

“Thank fuck”, he sighed, then rose to his feet with a smile, “You’re still my favorite spaghetti after all and I’d throw myself off the nearest cliff if you ever didn’t want to be my friend anymore.” It was both a joke and the raw, honest truth. And Eddie, as he did with anything Richie threw at him, took it in stride. 

“It’d be enough for me if you stopped calling me spaghetti but if you want to be dramatic, do as you please”, he said with a grin and Richie smiled right back. This probably hadn’t been the thorough, adult talk Bev had had in mind when she told Richie to talk about things with Eddie. But this had been the version that allowed Richie to be the least vulnerable he could be while still making sure he wouldn’t lose Eddie’s friendship. As far as Richie was concerned, the events had been adequately dealt with.

As if on some sort of cue, Mike called out from the kitchen that breakfast was ready and the two men left the bedroom to rejoin their friends. 

Over the course of the day, everything seemed to be almost normal. After breakfast, they all gathered in the living room to watch Richie’s first Netflix special and then Bill’s latest two movies. Richie knew that his stand up was way better now that he was out and could finally be himself but knowing he wasn’t doing a shit job and having all his friends laugh along with him were still too widely different things. Nevertheless, Richie couldn’t help but feel a strange tension in the room that was clearly radiating off of Eddie. His laughter seemed forced and he looked taught as a bowstring the entire day. And as time went on, it only got worse. Richie wished he could do something about it but Eddie made it so that they were never alone in one room so there was no chance for Richie to ask what was wrong. 

Patty, Mike, and Eddie had agreed to make dinner that night so after they had watched enough of their weird combo of stand up and horror movies, the three of them retreated to the kitchen to prepare dinner. They ate as a group and then retreated back to the living room to chat and catch each other up on their lives. While the tension seemed to have eased over dinner, it was now back stronger than ever. Richie felt like it was only a matter of time until it snapped and finally it did.

“I can’t do this”, Eddie suddenly burst out, slamming his glass onto the coffee table and rising to his feet in one fluid motion.

“Eddie”, Bev began softly but it was obvious he wasn’t going to listen.

“I’m sorry, Richie, I really don’t mean to ruin your birthday but I just can’t sit here and pretend like nothing happened”, Eddie proclaimed, the pitch of his voice rising at least an octave. One of his hands went to the pocket of his jeans to search for an inhaler he no longer kept there. For a moment Richie thought Eddie was going to hyperventilate but somehow the smaller man managed to reign himself in. Richie, on the contrary, felt like his heart was going to either burst out of his chest or shatter into a million pieces – or possibly both. 

This was his worst nightmare come true. He had fucked up and now he would lose Eddie’s friendship. Sure, it would have been painful to yearn for Eddie for the rest of his life without any chance of ever being with him in the way Richie wanted. But at least until now there had been hope that they could overcome what happened and still be friends. As it seemed right now, however, Richie’s drunk fuck-up would now take that away from him too. The thought of that being his fate stung so bad that Richie thought he was having a heart attack for a moment there. Around him, his friends kept throwing worried, questioning glances at each other. Richie wasn’t sure if Bev had told Ben about what happened. He looked just as clueless as Mike and Bill next to him and Patty on the other couch. Stan looked like he’d had a glass of spoiled milk and Bev was biting at her lip so much Richie was sure it was going to start bleeding any second now.

“It’s okay, Eddie”, he said softly, staring down at his feet. He couldn’t bear looking at Eddie right now or he was probably going to burst into tears that wouldn’t stop for several hours, “I shouldn’t…I’m sorry. I know I already said that and it doesn’t change the fact that I fucked up but I don’t know what else to do. I just really hoped we could still be friends…”

“I don’t want to be friends anymore!”, Eddie burst out, interrupting Richie and making all eyes land on him. Even Richie eventually dared to look up again. He found Eddie standing in front of the couch, hands clenched tightly by his sides. His chest was heaving with ragged breaths and his eyes were filled with unshed tears. It made Richie want to find the closest tall building and throw himself off of it. Eddie looked beyond distraught and it was all his fault. If he hadn’t been an idiot and decided to get smashed none of this would have happened. But what was done was done and now he had hurt the person that meant the most to him in the entire world. 

Richie opened his mouth even though he had no idea what he would even say but before he could get any words out anyway, Bev spoke up.

“Stan, it’s enough”, she said, voice trembling and looking almost as pale as Eddie, “This was all a huge mistake and I’m not going to sit here and watch it tear our friends apart.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”, Eddie shrieked, looking back and forth between Beverley and Stan. He looked even more lost and confused than before and Richie had to violently fight down the urge to hug him. Now was definitely not the time. 

“You’re right, Bev”, Stan sighed after a few moments and ran his hands through his hair, “If I’d known it would backfire like this, I would’ve never opened my damn mouth.” 

“I-is anyone g-gonna explain w-w-what’s going on?”, Bill asked, looking so lost it was almost comical. Any other time Richie might have laughed but right now he was just as confused as Bill and also hurt and upset. If he could get some explanations from his friends and then hide away in his bed forever that would be the ideal ending for the night for him. But it seemed he would have to sit through at least some more painful minutes of talking.

“Richie, Eddie, I’m sorry”, Bev said eventually, heaving a sigh, “You didn’t have sex last night. Stan and I got you drunk and made it look like you banged because we were tired of you guys pining for each other for decades and it going nowhere. We figured if you thought you’d already had sex you might just talk about your feelings for each other and finally get together. Apparently, that was a pretty dumb thing to do, though.”

For a moment there was complete silence.

“What the fuck Bev?!”, Eddie exclaimed, staring at her with a rage in his eyes that would have made a lesser person drop to their knees and beg for their life. 

“I agree! Aren’t you supposed to be one of the clever ones around here?”, Richie chimed in because he could never keep his mouth shut even if he tried.

“It was Stan’s idea!”, Beverly complained, crossing her arms in front of her chest, “I’m only the accomplice here!”

“Stan! Aren’t you supposed to be one of the responsible ones around here?!”, Richie immediately changed his target. Next to Stan, he could see Eddie roll his eyes at his comment but at least the rage seemed to make him a little less tense than before.

“I’m sorry, guys, okay?!”, Stan sighed yet again, looking defeated, “It’s just…last year we all came pretty close to dying. And I thought one way or another life can end pretty abruptly and there would be so many things left undone. Then I saw you guys on New year’s Eve and the way you looked at Eddie and he looked at you made me think that something could happen to either of you at any time and the other would never know how you felt about them. I just didn’t want that for you. I chose a pretty dumb way to try and help, I know. And I’m sorry. I really thought it would be for the best.”

“Fuck you, Stan!”, Eddie barked not three seconds after Stan had explained himself, “How dare you fuck up so royally but do it for a reason that makes it really fucking hard for me to be angry with you?!” An apologetic smile crept onto Stan’s face at that and Richie felt like he couldn’t stop himself from smiling much longer either. 

“Stan and I agreed that this yearning had to stop so we sort of took matters into our own hands”, Bev added, the panic in her features giving way to exhaustion, “If we would’ve known that you wouldn’t want to be friends anymore after that we would’ve never done it.” 

Stan nodded solemnly and despite how pissed off he was somewhere deep down, Richie just wanted to give them both a hug. All they had wanted was to help him because, once again, he couldn’t get his shit in order by himself. Maybe if he had just asked Eddie out earlier, Bev and Stan would have never had this stupid idea and he wouldn’t have to be angry with them now for destroying his friendship with Eddie. But now all that was left to do for Richie was to pick up the pieces and somehow keep going.

“What do you mean we don’t want to be friends anymore?”, Eddie asked, the anger in his voice making way for confusion yet again.

“You said you didn’t want to be friends anymore”, Richie said, voice toneless and low. Saying the words hurt just as much as hearing them. For a moment Richie was sure he was either going to throw up or burst into tears. He wasn’t sure which outcome would be more humiliating.

“Well, yeah”, Eddie admitted, before squaring his shoulders and taking a steadying breath, “And if Bev hadn’t interrupted me I would have told you that I didn’t want to be ‘just friends’ anymore because I was hoping we could try being something more than friends.”

Richie was thrown for a loop. He felt like someone had replaced his brain with a massive cotton ball that made it impossible for him to think let alone speak. All he could do was stare at Eddie with his mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers. Of all the possible outcomes of today, this was the one he had least expected and yet hopelessly yearned for all the same. Eddie wanting to be with him, well and truly wanting to be in a relationship with him was all of Richie’s dreams come true. And the fact that it was on the brink of becoming reality was more than his brain seemed to be able to handle right now. 

“Really?”, was all he managed to croak out after several failed attempts at getting out anything even close to coherent. Eddie nodded and now Richie actually burst into tears. Within seconds someone was by his side, their hand shakily being placed on his shoulder. Richie really hoped it was Eddie.

“Of course”, Eddie’s voice said next to him, soft and a little unsure still, as if he wasn’t sure how to take Richie’s sudden emotional outburst, “If you want it, that is.” 

“Alright, I think that’s enough”, Richie suddenly heard Patty say followed by her clapping her hands, “How about you boys go outside and talk about this somewhere a little more private while we fix some drinks for all of us. We all probably need it. I also have some choice words for my husband that you two lovebirds don’t need to hear.”

Hurrying to rub the tears from his eyes, Richie let himself be dragged to his feet and ushered out the backdoor onto the patio with Eddie by a very resolute Patty. The second she closed the door behind them, they could hear her voice rise and neither of them could help the snort that escaped them.

“Wouldn’t want to be Stan right now”, Richie commented after a few seconds. For one, he didn’t actually want to hear what Patty was saying and then there were actually more important things to talk about between him and Eddie. But every time Richie looked at Eddie, his throat closed up and his eyes began to fill with tears again. He wasn’t even sure why. Eddie had offered him all he could ever want on a silver plate and all there was left for him was to take it. But somehow, deep down, Richie was terribly afraid that if he owned up to his feelings, Eddie would withdraw from him after all.

“I mean, he did fuck up pretty badly”, Eddie commented. He crossed his arms in front of his chest when a soft breeze blew across the patio and Richie could see a shiver run through him. Without hesitation, he took off the Hawaiian shirt with dozens of flamingos in all different colors printed on it that everyone had complained was an eyesore and carefully placed it on Eddie’s shoulders. It wasn’t like it was going to keep him much warmer but everyone always said to dress in layers when they got cold and the shirt was another layer so it should help in some way. It was also way too large for Eddie’s smaller frame and almost slipped off of him. It took a while for Richie to arrange it on Eddie’s shoulders so it would stay where it was and when he finally drew his hands back, Eddie grabbed one of them and held onto it.

Both men looked each other in the eyes, looking equally shocked by what had just happened. Eddie seemed like he had reacted on autopilot and was about to let go of Richie’s hand again, but this time Richie held on and refused to let go.

“Did you mean it?”, he asked and hated how quiet and insecure his voice sounded, “What you said inside?” 

“Of course I did, you idiot”, Eddie snapped without hesitation, “Why would I say I wanted to be your boyfriend if I didn’t actually mean it?!”

Even if Richie could see right through Eddie’s anger and find the worry underneath, he couldn’t help but smile at the rage on the smaller man’s face and in his words. 

“Hey, don’t blame me! I’ve been horribly pranked by friends before”, Richie commented, forcing an easy smile onto his face. Because that was how they dealt with situations like this. Eddie got angry and Richie joked about it. Given their current situation Richie’s comment only got a tired smile from the other man.

“I’m sorry, okay?”, Richie sighed, “I’m gonna be extra vulnerable now so you better keep this to yourself or I’ll ask my secret Hollywood mafia friends to abduct you.” Eddie rolled his eyes once more and Richie took a deep breath. It was almost ridiculous how much he worried about being vulnerable in front of Eddie when the reward was literally all of his dreams coming true. He would have to talk about that with his therapist. As soon as he got around to contacting one, that was. That had been on his to-do list for years now but Richie felt like right now he had more important things to worry about. 

“It’s just that I’ve been in love with you since we were kids and being with you is all I ever wanted”, Richie admitted, squeezing Eddie’s hand in his, “And I know we both got tons of issues and you’re in the middle of a divorce and I only came out like three months ago so it might not go too well. I’m just so afraid I’ll ruin everything because I don’t think I could deal with having you and then losing you, you know?”

“You’re such an idiot”, Eddie said on a sigh as he stepped into Richie’s space, “Believe me, I worry just as much and I can’t promise it’s all going to be smooth sailing. But trust me, I’ve thought about every possible outcome – good ones and bad ones. And if I tell you I still want to try this with you because I think the risk is worth it, you can trust me because analyzing risks is literally my job.” 

“Never thought anyone could show me a practical use for risk analyzing”, Richie commented numbly, letting go of Eddie’s hand to wrap both of his arms around the smaller man, “You impress me once again, Eddie Spaghetti.” 

“If this is the pet name you’re choosing for me, I might have to reconsider”, Eddie replied but let himself melt against Richie’s broad chest. The brunet was almost certain Eddie could feel his wildly beating heart hammering against his ribcage but right now he couldn’t care less. Eddie was really about to become his boyfriend and Richie’s head was completely empty. There was no room for any coherent thought among the immense bubbles of happiness and the silhouette of a gangly 13-year-old boy doing a victory dance at the back of Richie’s consciousness.

“So you really want to be my boyfriend?”, he asked softly, not because he still didn’t believe Eddie but because he wanted to hear him say it, wanted the words to be engraved in his heart forever.

“Of course I want to”, Eddie answered without hesitation, “If you’ll have me.” Eddie shifted against Richie, tilting his head to look up and into his eyes. Richie saw the same mixture of excitement and happiness mixed with worry that he was certain was mirrored in his own eyes.

“Fuck yeah”, he said for lack of anything better to say and finally allowed himself to lower his head and gently press his lips to Eddie’s. Their first kiss was a chaste, close-mouthed thing, both of them being far too nervous to try anything more than that at the moment. Richie was pretty sure his hands were trembling and Eddie was shaking like a leaf in his arms. It was all Richie had ever dreamt of and the realization that he finally had it made tears rise to his eyes again. He broke the kiss and tried to rub them away discreetly but Eddie saw and immediately got on his tiptoes to kiss them from Richie’s cheeks. 

Richie was certain his heart would give out from too much affection any second now when he heard a door open behind them.

“Hey, are you guys ready to come back inside?”, he heard Mike ask. Their friend stood in the doorframe with the biggest smile on his face. In the background, Richie could see Bev and Ben straining to look past Mike and catch a glimpse at him and Eddie. Richie looked down at his new boyfriend – his heart did a backflip when he used that term to think of Eddie – and the smaller man nodded.

“I mean, I was just about to talk Eduardo into a round of birthday-pool sex but I guess I can’t leave the rest of my guests without entertainment”, Richie said and earned himself a punch on the arm by Eddie. Nevertheless, Eddie grabbed one of his hands in his and they entered the house with their hands intertwined. 

The first thing they saw were the huge smiles on Bev’s, Ben’s and Bill’s faces. While they were outside, someone must have filled Bill in on the events of last night and this morning because he looked far less confused than earlier. In the corner of one of the couches sat Stan, looking almost exactly like he used to when they were kids and he got scolded by his parents for getting in trouble. Patty was perched on the armrest next to him and looked very satisfied with herself. On the coffee table between them, seven full shot glasses and a bottle of Richie’s favorite whiskey waited for them. 

“I heard we’re ready to continue partying?”, Richie asked no one in particular as he made his way over to the far end of one of the sofas and sat down with Eddie by his side, their hands still connected.

“Everyone in need of a scolding has been appropriately scolded”, Mike reported with a smile and sat down between Bill and Eddie, “And it seems your little talk had a happy outcome too so I’d say we can continue celebrating.”

“Oh, another Losers couple!”, Bev cheered and grabbed the glass in front of her. 

“Don’t get smug now, Marsh”, Eddie hissed immediately, angrily pointing his finger at Beverly, “Don’t think you’re off the hook just because your stupid plan worked. I’m still angry with you.”

Bev smiled sheepishly and Eddie’s expression softened again immediately. Richie figured that even though they were both still upset about how their friends had pranked them, they wouldn’t be too much longer. They finally had each other and they wouldn’t let anything take away from that happiness. Everyone eventually took their shot glass and raised them in a toast.

“To another 41 years with my favorite spaghetti by my side”, Richie exclaimed and pressed a quick kiss to Eddie’s cheek before downing his whiskey. 

Later that night, after several more drinks and hours filled with stories and laughter, everyone retreated to their respective bedrooms. Richie merely took off his jeans and socks, deciding that sleeping in his briefs and t-shirt was enough. Eddie had kept his Hawaiian shirt for the rest of the evening and Richie had been too amazed by the sight of him to make any dumb comments. 

Now, as he climbed into bed, Richie felt like he would never be able to sleep. His heart had only calmed down marginally. The only difference to before was that now it was beating wildly from happiness, not worry. Eddie was his boyfriend. The thought made goosebumps break out all over Richie’s body and an almost comically wide smile spread on his face. If anyone had told him a year ago that he’d spend his 41st birthday with all of his friends and would end the day with the man of his dreams as his boyfriend, he would’ve asked where he could buy the drugs that would make him believe that. But now, all of this was a reality.

He and Eddie would probably have to have another talk about how they were going to handle their new relationship. Eddie still worked and lived in New York and Richie was going back on tour in two weeks. They probably wouldn’t see each other in a while and the thought alone was almost physically painful. Now that he had Eddie, Richie didn’t want to ever let him go again. There was a near all-consuming fear that the moment he let go of Eddie, he would slip through his fingers or worse-Richie would somehow forget about him again. His fears seemed unfounded since it had been several months since Derry and no one forgot about the other again but Richie still didn’t trust the peace.

In the middle of his tossing and turning, he heard a knock on the door.

“Can I come in?”, Eddie’s voice called out softly from the other side and Richie turned on a bedside lamp and put on his glasses in record time before asking Eddie inside. They had parted ways with another soft kiss when the others decided to head to bed. Richie would have loved for Eddie to sleep in his bed with him but he didn’t dare ask. They were both new to this and Eddie got into his head a lot of times. Richie didn’t want to make the other feel like he was expected to share Richie’s bed now. But apparently, Richie wasn’t the only one longing for some more contact.

Eddie entered the room and carefully closed the door behind him. Then, without a word, he climbed onto the bed and crawled forward on all fours until his and Richie’s noses were almost touching. They were close from head to toe now and Richie tried to will his body to stop sending blood towards his nether regions. Even if Eddie did want to sleep in the same bed as Richie, it didn’t mean he wanted to do anything and popping a boner now could ruin everything. 

As it turned out Eddie had something more than sleep in mind when he joined Richie in his bed. After a few seconds of hesitation, he bent down to kiss Richie. This time around, however, the kiss was neither chaste nor sweet. Eddie was obviously giving it his all, licking at Richie’s lips until he opened his mouth and then licking into it until Richie couldn’t help but whimper. The kiss went on for what felt like an eternity and when Eddie finally drew back he bit at Richie’s lower lip once, making a moan fall from the brunet’s lips. 

“Holy shit, Eddie”, Richie gasped, his hands shooting up to caress Eddie’s back, “What did I do to deserve that?”

“It’s your birthday”, Eddie answered easily, “And since I’m now your boyfriend I thought I’d give you something special to remember it.”

The fact alone that Eddie called himself Richie’s boyfriend made Richie’s insides melt into a puddle of ridiculously happy goop. He was still coming to terms with the fact that it was actually the truth now and that Eddie was indeed his boyfriend but hearing it from the guy he’d been in love with for almost 30 years now was something completely else than just thinking about it. To be fair, Richie couldn’t claim he was doing much thinking either with the way Eddie shifted above him as he tried to move the covers away from between him and Richie without having to give up their position. It looked utterly ridiculous and Richie would have probably laughed out loud if it hadn’t been for the look of utter determination on Eddie’s face. 

“Can you spread your legs a little?”, Eddie asked once he had finally pulled the covers out from between them and bunched them up on the other side of the bed. Richie complied before he could even ask what Eddie was trying to do and then words completely failed him at the sight of Eddie kneeling between his legs once they were far enough apart.

“I’ve never done this before so sorry if it sucks”, Eddie warned, his fingers drumming a nervous rhythm on Richie’s thighs, “And I know, haha, sucking is the main part of a blowjob but you know what I mean so keep the crappy jokes to yourself.”

Richie did want to make a crappy joke. Despite the emptiness there, there were about 15 rolling through his head just waiting to be said out loud. But he pushed them all aside in favor of saying: “You don’t need to do this, Eds.” 

“I know. And don’t call me that”, Eddie replied without missing a beat, “But I want to. You know, you’re not the only one who’s been wanting to get together for ages. And tomorrow I’m already going back to New York and who knows when we can make time to meet again. So I thought I’d make good use of the time we have. Give us something nice to remember about this weekend.” 

“God, you’re so damn sweet I’m gonna cry”, Richie said, half-joking half actually trying to hold back tears. He moved one of his hands from Eddie’s back to the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss. It was heated, kindling the fire in Richie’s belly and soft at the same time. There was also something desperate in the kiss, something that tried to remember every second of it with superhuman accuracy to make sure they didn’t forget what it was like while they were apart. 

At some point, Eddie snuck one of his hands between them and started stroking Richie through his briefs. Richie whined into the kiss, losing all coherent thought and probably a good chunk of motor function as his brain went into an infinite loop of ‘oh my god Eddie’s touching my dick’. And it wasn’t even a lot of friction or a particularly well-executed handjob. It was literally just Eddie touching him but that knowledge alone made Richie’s heart race in his chest and his pleasure increase tenfold. Everything he’d ever done with anyone before Eddie paled in comparison and Richie felt like he finally understood why no encounter in club bathrooms and no attempt at a serious relationship had been able to satisfy him before. None of them had been Eddie. Even after he had completely forgotten about him, some part of Richie had still longed for the man he’d fallen in love with when they were barely old enough to know what that meant. 

Richie sighed into the kiss when Eddie trailed his hands down his body and began pulling at the waistband of his briefs. He had never been so content before. Richie obligingly lifted his hips to allow Eddie to pull his underwear down to mid-thigh and only complained mildly when Eddie broke their kiss to make his way down Richie’s body and towards his dick. 

“Holy shit, you’re big”, Eddie muttered the moment he first laid eyes on Richie’s straining dick and wrapped one hand loosely around the base, “This is gonna be even harder than I thought.” 

“Pfffft you said hard”, Richie commented because apparently even when the love of his life had his hand around Richie’s cock he wasn’t above stupid puns. Luckily, Eddie only rolled his eyes and then focused back on the task at hand. The same determined look from before spread on his face again and it made Richie’s heart ache and stomach churn with excitement just as it had before. If this was the effect Eddie had on him, Richie was pretty sure this wasn’t going to last long. 

And then Eddie lowered his head and licked a first tentative stripe up Richie’s cock from where his hand was wrapped around it up to the tip. Richie’s eyes fell shut off their own accord as a drawn-out moan fell from his lips. Eddie seemed to take this as a sign of approval and repeated the move a few times. Meanwhile, Richie struggled to keep his eyes open. He wanted to watch Eddie suck his dick, engrave the memory in the depths of his brain somewhere, where no one could ever take it away from him. But the sight of Eddie’s hand and mouth on him was almost enough to get Richie to lose it right then and there and while he was sure Eddie would be flattered by having such an effect on him, he’d like for this to last at least a little longer. Even if it was only for his own dignity’s sake. 

The task of holding off became increasingly more difficult when Eddie finally gathered the courage to wrap his lips around Richie’s length. He barely made it past the head without gagging and he couldn’t really get a rhythm going but he more than made up for it with determination and the hand now firmly stroking the part of Richie’s length his mouth couldn’t reach. Eddie’s other hand all but clawed into Richie’s thigh, holding onto him for dear life – a desire that Richie understood all too well. 

“Fuck, Eddie…”, he whimpered as Eddie sucked at him particularly hard and finally allowed himself to let one of his hands move from where they were clenched in the sheets to the top of Eddie’s hair. Richie had no intention of guiding Eddie. He was going to let him figure everything out at his own pace. But he wanted to feel him, run his hand through the silky strands of hair as Eddie’s head bobbed slightly up and down. It was heavenly even with Eddie’s lack of technique or experience. He drooled all over Richie, only amplifying the slick sounds of his hand moving over his length. The sound was music to Richie’s ears even if he could hardly hear it between his own moans and whispers of Eddie’s name.

Eddie eventually seemed to grow more confident in what he was doing and picked up the pace of both his mouth and his hand. Richie moaned above him. The feeling of Eddie’s mouth around his dick didn’t cease to amaze him and the thought of Eddie doing this to him more often, learning and getting even better at it, made a shiver run down Richie’s spine. On a whim, he let his fingernails drag gently across Eddie’s scalp, scratching his head as one would do with a cat. Eddie moaned around him and it went straight to Richie’s dick. The pleasure was suddenly so intense that Richie had to force his own hips to stay flat on the bed instead of pumping into Eddie’s mouth like they so desperately wanted. 

Despite the mounting pleasure, Richie dragged his fingernails across Eddie’s head, again and again, reveling in the moans that shot straight through his cock and up his spine, making his whole body tingle pleasantly. At least this way, Richie thought, Eddie got to enjoy this too. But Richie had barely finished the thought when he heard a rustling sound between his legs. He managed to crack his eyes open to be greeted with the sight of Eddie rutting against the sheets between his legs. And suddenly Richie was ridiculously close to losing it. 

“Hey, Eddie”, he managed to get out between moans and whimpers, “Maybe you should... _fuck…_ let go of me now.”

But Eddie wouldn’t let up. If anything, he tightened the hold his hand and lips had around Richie’s length and redoubled his efforts to get him off – which was about to happen in about three seconds and that was being generous.

“Come on”, Richie urged, trying to get Eddie to move off of him, “You don’t have to…” And suddenly Eddie’s head snapped up, eyes wild and dark as he met Richie’s gaze. 

“But I want to”, he stated firmly and without hesitation, “I’m old enough to decide for myself if I want to swallow or not so stop making a fuss and let me suck you off.” 

Now Richie really couldn’t argue with that. He was still trying not to drool at how rough and ruined Eddie’s voice had sounded just now when Eddie’s mouth closed around the tip of his length again – and suddenly it was all over. Richie was quite sure he blacked out for a second or two, the pleasure coursing through his body almost too intense for him to handle. Everything was hot-white inside him and all around him. The second the intensity lessened a bit, Richie could feel Eddie swallow around him and he immediately lost it again.

For the longest time, Richie was just floating on a big puffy cloud of pleasure. His head was blessedly empty and his body felt warm and sated. The outside world ceased to exist and all that mattered were the points of contact between him and Eddie. The smaller man eventually let Richie’s softening cock fall from his lips and moved away from him. Richie managed to blink his eyes open and was immediately greeted by the sight of Eddie, eyes still dark and wide, lips puffy and red and a trail of cum leading from the corner of his mouth down to his chin. Richie’s dick gave an exhausted twitch at that and a lazy smile spread across Richie’s face.

“Come here”, Richie said, outstretching his hands to pull Eddie down on top of him. His voice was hoarse and rough and Richie really hoped he hadn’t been too loud. His friends were sleeping in the adjacent rooms after all. Then again, Richie figured he deserved this after decades of pining. And at least two of his friends were responsible for the noise and Richie figured they deserved to hear of their success in the way that would inconvenience them the most. 

Eddie shook his head as if to free himself from some sort of stupor and crawled back up Richie’s body. He was breathing heavily and looked just as out of it as Richie felt. When Richie tried to draw him in for a kiss, he pulled back, however. 

“I just sucked your dick”, he stated as if Richie could have forgotten about that somehow.

“I don’t care”, Richie replied and he really didn’t. Usually, he wasn’t the biggest fan of tasting himself on someone else but with Eddie, it felt different. And somehow Richie was sure this wouldn’t be the only thing that would be different now that he was with Eddie. 

After another moment of hesitation, Eddie finally leaned in and sealed their lips in a kiss. The taste of himself was almost overwhelming for Richie for a few seconds but then he got through it and tasted what he had only just come to know as Eddie’s taste. There were no words he knew or possibly even in the entire English lexicon to describe what Eddie tasted like. The first word that came to Richie’s mind was ‘home’ and he decided to stick with that. Wrapping an arm around him, Richie pulled Eddie down fully on top of him and was suddenly greeted with the feeling of damp fabric against his upper thigh.

“I was just about to offer you a handjob but I see you took care of yourself just fine”, Richie teased, breaking the kiss and smiling up at Eddie. The smaller man blushed furiously and hit Richie on the arm.

“Don’t laugh at me! There’s no way you wouldn’t have gone off if you’d heard yourself moaning like you did”, Eddie retorted almost petulantly. Richie couldn’t help but chuckle, then pull Eddie in for another kiss.

They made out for a while and Richie would have loved to keep going forever. But eventually, both of them became too tired to keep up kissing and they decided to stop for the night. Richie struggled out of bed and dug through his closet until he found an old oversized tour shirt he gave Eddie to wear for the night. The smaller man took it and vanished in the en-suite bathroom to get out of his soiled clothes, wash his face and steal some of the mouthwash Richie never used anyway. By the time he finally returned to bed, Richie had almost drifted off several times. The two men shared one last kiss before wrapping themselves in the sheets and each other for the night.

Richie’s last coherent thought was how when he would wake up next to Eddie this time, neither of them would panic and they would possibly make out some more. And if that wasn’t the best start to a new year of his life Richie had ever had he didn’t know what was.

**Author's Note:**

> Huzzah! Another Reddie piece finished!  
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated! You can also always hmu on twitter @NoiseStrangest !


End file.
